Week 4, Post 2: Reading

The chapter "A Christmas Dinner" has been one of my favourites, as it talks about how everybody is so happy and pleasant to one another. It reminds me of Christmas back home, where out of nowhere, the whole town become so pleasant to one another. I like how Dickens refers to the grandma as grandmamma and the grandpa as grandpapa. I have actually never heard these terms used to refer to a parents parent. Although I never really got to spend a Christmas with my grandparents growing up, (They live on the east coast, where as I live in Missouri) my mother seemed to do some of the things Dickens talked about that the grandmamma or grandpapa did. She always likes carrying around a mistletoe and trying to kiss us all. I feel like many families are the same way around Christmas time, I have been to a couple friend's family Christmas parties and some are the same, where as some are different. I guess it just all depends on the family and how they get along. I also thought it was acute that Dickens portrayed the grandmother as the ideal grandmother, working, getting things ready, and getting all of the kids little gifts for Christmas, it made the chapter feel homey. I think it is great that throughout all of this time between Dickens time and ours today, we still see Christmas as a time to be happy and enjoy family. It gives us hope in tradition and cultures. We can know that our great great grand children will be able to experience the love and happiness that the Christmas season brings, which I think is a great thing because it almost keeps us all sane. If we didn’t have Christmas we might as well all fast forward to the inevitable mean society we sometimes are around.

The next chapter I liked was the New Year chapter, as Dickens said the New Year is a great time to look back on the old times in the past year and all the fun it has brought while also looking forward to the future to see what it has to hold. It is also nice to see that in Dickens time people would celebrate the New Year just like we do today. Of course they seemed to have a more formal celebration then I would view our celebrations today. Well, that’s to speak for the younger generation. I liked that everyone was doing toasts, I have never actually done a lot of toasts on New Years, I mean of course there is always one for the New Year, but all of the drinking coming up to the New Year I have never had many toasts. That is definitely something I will have to try this year. Maybe I have spent too many New Years with my parents, not being able to drink; Although the sparkling wine sufficed for a good 15 years. I’m already excited for the New Year, although this one has just begun.